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Drei gegen Acht - Three against Eight.The disparity in the number of nations arrayed against the Central Powers was a popular theme, and was updated as the numbers on each side increased. Italy's entry into the war on May 23, 1915 changed the numbers again. Central Powers (top) Sultan Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Kaiser Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. Allies (center and bottom rows) Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, King George V of the United Kingdom, President Raymond Poincaré of France, King Nikola of Montenegro, King Peter of Serbia, King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, King Albert I of Belgium, Emperor Taishō of Japan. In the center, a poem: Drei gegen Acht. Gebt Acht, Ihr “Acht”, es blitzt und kracht und schlägt manch’ schwere Lücke. Jung-Siegfrieds Schwert schlug unversehrt Den Ambosz einst in Stücke. Und Treue, Mut und Einigkeit Geb’ uns zum Siege das Geleit. - Richard Ott Three against eight Take heed, your "night" flashes and crashes And suggests some serious gap. Young Siegfried's sword split the anvil Yet stayed intact. And loyalty, courage and unity Will lead us to victory. - Translation John Shea Reverse: Postmarked Frankfurt, July 21, 1915

The disparity in the number of nations arrayed against the Central Powers was a common motif, and was updated as the numbers on each side increased. Italy's entry into the war on May 23, 1915 changed the numbers again.

Central Powers (top) Sultan Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Kaiser Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. Allies (center and bottom rows) Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, King George V of the United Kingdom, President Raymond Poincaré of France, King Nikola of Montenegro, King Peter of Serbia, King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, King Albert I of Belgium, Emperor Taishō of Japan.

In the center, a poem: Drei gegen Acht, Three against Eight.

Image text

Drei gegen Acht.



Gebt Acht, Ihr “Acht”, es blitzt und kracht

und schlägt manch’ schwere Lücke.

Jung-Siegfrieds Schwert schlug unversehrt

Den Ambosz einst in Stücke.

Und Treue, Mut und Einigkeit

Geb’ uns zum Siege das Geleit.

- Richard Ott



Three against eight



Take heed, your "night" flashes and crashes

And suggests some serious gap.

Young Siegfried's sword split the anvil

Yet stayed intact.

And loyalty, courage and unity

Will lead us to victory.



Reverse:

Postmarked Frankfurt, July 21, 1915

Other views: Larger, Back

Friday, May 24, 1918

"As though by chance on the following day, the French Press published a success by the Belgian troops 'under the orders of General de Cueninck, subordinate to General Foch', and on the 24th M. de Broqueville handed the King a memorandum, trying to prove that the Sovereign's command was only fictitious and that the Chief of the Army Staff alone was responsible for the conduct of operations."

Quotation Context

Albert, King of the Belgians, resisted repeated requests by the Allies, including Allied Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, to subordinate Belgian troops to non-Belgian command. One request would have deployed forces to Italy. Albert repeatedly pointed out agreeing to any of these requests was constitutionally impossible. He hotly disagreed with his Prime Minister's position, summarized above, pointing out that he had commanded the Army for nearly four years in accordance with Article 64 of the Belgian Constitution. Charles de Broqueville served as Prime Minister of Belgium from June 17, 1911 to June 1, 1918.

Source

The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, page 209, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber

Tags

1918-05-24, 1918, May, Belgium, Albert, Charles de Broqueville, de Broqueville, Foch, Ferdinand Foch